Indian Navy’s sail training boat INSV Mhadei entered Goa on 8 June, 2014, and berthed alongside at INS Mandovi boat pool on completion of a 17000 nautical mile long voyage from Goa to Rio de Janeiro and back.
The boat and her crew were received by Adm (Retd) Arun Prakash.
The Mhadei had departed from Goa for Cape Town in November last year to take part in the 2014 edition of the prestigious and historic trans-Atlantic race called “Cape2Rio”. The boat was skippered by Cdr Dilip Donde and sailed by a crew of three that included Cdr MVV Satish (trainee skipper), Cdr TGS Bedi and Lt Cdr Shweta Kapur. After covering a distance of almost 5000 nautical miles in a little over a month, the boat arrived at Cape Town just in time to get ready for the race.
In addition to taking part in the grueling race, the Navy undertook the long voyage with the additional aim of training more crew including women officers. At Rio de Janeiro, Cdr Dilip Donde handed over the boat to Cdr MVV Satish who began the return voyage with Cdr TGS Bedi and Lt Vartika Joshi.
In the voyage from Goa to Rio de Janeiro and back, the Indian Navy not only managed to take part in the Cape2Rio Race, but also train three women officers in the art of long distance ocean sailing, which is a first for the Indian Navy. With the arrival of the Mhadei in Goa, the Indian Navy has achieved all that it had set out to with this voyage.
[mappress] Press Release, June 10, 2014; Image: Indian Navy